(Photo= Yonhap news)

 

[Alpha Biz= Reporter Kim Sangjin] Kakao Pay's stock has plummeted nearly 90% from its peak.

According to the Korean Exchange on August 4, the closing price on August 2 was 25,150 won, marking an 89.9% decline from its all-time high. Over the past year, the stock has fallen by 48.71%, and it has decreased by 44.77% since the beginning of the year.

On November 24, 2021, less than a month after the company's IPO, CEO Ryu Young-jun and seven other executives exercised stock options to acquire approximately 440,000 shares of Kakao Pay. Just 16 days later, on December 10, they sold all 440,000 shares in the market, making 87.8 billion won and causing the stock price to drop to the 170,000 won range.

In June 2022, the second-largest shareholder, Alipay Singapore, sold a 3.8% stake (5 million shares) in a block deal at a 12% discount, causing the stock price to fall below 100,000 won. By the end of June, the stock price had slipped to the 60,000 won range.

In March 2024, Alipay sold 2.95 million shares in a club deal with a 9.8% discount, driving the stock price down to the 30,000 won range.

In May 2024, Kakao Pay was removed from the Morgan Stanley Capital International (MSCI) Korea Index due to insufficient market capitalization, leading to further declines in its stock price.

On July 23, 2024, Kakao Pay’s stock price dropped 7.81% to 24,800 won per share following the arrest of Kim Beom-soo, who faced allegations of stock manipulation related to SM Entertainment. The charges include manipulating SM’s stock price to obstruct a rival’s public tender offer.

Following this, the stock price briefly recovered to around 26,000 won, but soon faced new challenges. Concerns over potential losses for payment gateway providers due to the unresolved financial issues of TMON and WEMAKEPRICE have put strong downward pressure on the stock. On July 30, Kakao Pay’s stock dropped 4.21% amid fears of significant financial impacts from TMON and WEMAKEPRICE's combined card transactions amounting to nearly 1.2 trillion won in June and July.

 

 

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